Shivani Patel, an undergraduate student in business and management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, recently won third place in the 8th Annual Stanley M. Grossman Innovators Invitational at the Center for Urban Business Entrepreneurship (CUBE) at Brooklyn Law School.

Eleven teams pitched their legal technology startup plans, competing for prize money to be used to help launch their plans.

Patel partnered with her sister, Minal Patel, a student at Brooklyn Law School, to present their plan for an app called Asha, which would connect immigrant children with professionals who can provide needed legal, medical, and education resources.

Watch the sister team present their proposal here.

Rensselaer was a proud sponsor of this competition. Teams were graded by a 13-judge panel that included Craig Cook, the general counsel and secretary for the Institute.

This involvement reflects a growing collaboration between Rensselaer and Brooklyn Law School, which was just named as one of the partners for the new Rensselaer Institute for Energy, the Built Environment, and Smart Systems (EBESS).